Sovetsky Sport. August 7, 1997. There is something magical about the word "couple." There are two of them; they are together - sharing both joy and sorrow - and they are inseparable. Watching a married couple, you might find yourself thinking: "What a beautiful couple!" But looking at Olga Bicherova and Valentin Mogilny, you simply want to say: "What a happy couple!"
The fragile, tender, delicate, and graceful Olga - with her winsome face (put a kokoshnik on her, and she would be a true Russian noblewoman!) - and Valentin, mighty and broad-shouldered... In a word: a beautiful woman and a strong man.
At the Russian Gymnastics Cup, world all-around champion Olga Bicherova and her husband - a world and European all-around champion himself - Valentin Mogilny watched the athletes' performances with close attention. Yet, time and again, they were distracted by journalists; one after another, reporters asked Olga and Valentin to pose for cameras and television crews, or to answer a few questions... And in return, they offered nothing but smiles and graciousness.
What do you do in France?
Valentin: We work at a sports club. I coach the boys, and Olga coaches the girls. We live in a small town not far from Paris.
Is this a private or a municipal club?
Olga: Half and half, fifty-fifty, because in France there are no 'purely' private clubs like in America. The city provides some funding, but the main source of funding, of course, is training fees. The club is quite large, with almost 400 members, and naturally, the more people train, the better the technical equipment in the gym.
Do children's training sessions cost their parents a lot?
Valentin: No, compared to the US, it's very inexpensive. If in America people pay $300 or $400 a month for gymnastics classes, in France they pay that same amount for the entire year.
Olga: As for our work in France, I also provide commentary for Eurosport on various gymnastics competitions. Occasionally, I am invited to serve as an interpreter when a delegation visits. I enjoy this very much. I love interacting with people - after all, I graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, specializing in Television, and I take great pleasure in working in this field.
Returning to your primary occupation - coaching - what kind of children do you work with, and what is their level of preparation?
Olga: The children vary widely - ranging from the very young, starting at two years old, to young women aged 17 or 18.
Valentin: There are groups for adults as well - we used to call them "health groups" - but we don't run them ourselves. In general, the club's policy is to attract as many people as possible; our primary focus is on mass participation.
It must be important for your students that they are being coached by such renowned gymnasts?
Valentin: Naturally. And above all, this serves as a major form of publicity to attract children to the club. When we first arrived, everything there was operating at a very low level. But thanks to that publicity - and the demonstration performances we staged - nearly 300 people flocked to the club in a matter of just a few days!
Olga: Thanks to the fact that we know many renowned gymnasts, we were able to organize exhibition performances in our town featuring stars such as Svetlana Boginskaya, Igor Korobchinsky, and Oksana Chusovitina. For the children, of course, this is a source of great joy - the opportunity to interact with famous gymnasts.
Valentin: It's actually very touching to see boys and girls create something like a little museum in their rooms - collecting newspaper clippings and hanging our photos on the walls.
And when will we be able to see your students at international competitions?
Valentin: The thing is, the training system in France is completely different. There, children spend practically their entire day at school - from 8am to 5pm - so going to gymnastics practice after that is simply unrealistic. Doing an hour of exercise a day just for the sake of one's health is one thing, but to train a high-caliber athlete, a single hour is nowhere near enough. We argued extensively, made our case, and cited examples from the Soviet school of gymnastics training. We would ask parents: "Can your child train for six hours a day?" And they would reply: "No, that's too much." Yet, in reality, one needs to spend six hours a day in the gym to achieve any meaningful results.
Olga: And yet, at the same time, this is the result expected of us; at the end of the year, they ask why our achievements are so modest.
Valentin: However, a solution has now been found: some schools are organizing what amount to 'sports classes,' where studnets - who train not only in gymnastgics but also in football and figure skating - are enrolled. For these students, the standard physical education lessons are removed from the curriculom, allowing them to leave school at two in the afternoon to attend training sessions at their respective clubs.
Olga: But that's not the case everywhere, either. You have to go around and convince school administrators and parents.
Does your son Alyosha take an interest in gymnastics?
Olga: He absolutely adores gymnastics! We can barely drag him out of the gym - and he even made his dad take on a group of boys the same age as Alyosha. Every single day, Sundays and holidays included, he takes his father by the hand and leads him off to practice.
Valentin: And I have to say, he's got the talent. We're not saying this just because we're his parents. Lyosha really could become a very good gymnast.
He probably practically grew up in France - does he speak French well?
Olga: Yes, he was a year and a half old when we left, and French is his native language. When we talk to him, we can tell that he thinks in French and then translates it into Russian. However, whenever possible, we try to bring him to Russia often - and Lyosha really loves it here. He's constantly asking, "When am I going to Moscow?"
When you left for France, did you know the language?
Valentin: We knew English. At first, it was very difficult for us, but then we enrolled in a course, studied for a month, and told everyone to speak to us exclusively in French. After about two years, we were already communicating fluently with the French.
And were you not invited to work in the USA?
Olga: We were invited, but we specifically chose France. For one thing, it's closer to home; and besides, the lifestyle in America is completely different. It's very risky there - you put everything on the line and have no idea what awaits you. Although many of our gymnast acquaintances have opened their own gyms there, it remains a huge risk - much like playing roulette.
Valentin: Our friends Yuri Sedykh and Natalia Lisovskaya - track and field athletes - lived in France for a while, but then they were invited to the USA. They worked there for some time, yet they still returned to France. They said they just couldn't make it work in America.
Olga: Some people like to put everything on the line - ready for either a big win or a big loss - but we prefer a calm and stable life.
Olga, you became the all-around world champion at the age of 15 - such a heavy burden of fame fell upon your fragile, girlish shoulders. Was it difficult?
Olga: I didn't feel that way, because for me, that 1981 championship was like a beautiful dream! Right up until the very last moment, I didn't know if I would be competing - the decision was made just one day before the competition began. And when I won, I simply couldn't quite believe that it had actually happened. Later on - the younger you are, the easier it is to handle both success and failure. As you mature, you begin to feel a sense of responsibility; it becomes much more difficult to compete when you have championship titles behind you - when you have to defend them and prove yourself all over again.
And here, in Russia, do you keep in touch with any of your teammates?
Valentin: Practically everyone has left. Some are working in Europe, others in the USA. Here, we are delighted to be speaking with Yuri Korolev, the 1981 all-around world champion.
Olga: And my best friend, Natalia Yurchenko, also stayed behind in Russia.
By the way, Natalia once mentioned in an interview with our newspaper that her daughter's name is Olga...
Olga: Yes, and I'm very proud ot it.
Purely psychologically, which is harder - being a coach, or competing yourself?
Olga: Both are difficult in their own way. When you are competing, you know your own strengths - what you are capable of - but when you are working as a coach, you can only worry about your student; you are unable to help them during their performance.
Valentin: Sometimes I just want to pull the guy off the apparatus and do it all myself!
Is coaching generally a rewarding profession?
Valentin: Far from always. Because you might work with a young man for ten or twelve years, pouring all your energy and knowledge into him. But then - the athlete suffers a psychological breakdown, and that's it. All your hard work goes to waste - vanishes into thin air. You have to start all over again. Take Svetlana Khorkina's coach, Boris Vasilievich Pilkin. He spent his entire life working - working, working - and only now, at the age of 67, did he finally get lucky: he produced such a magnificent gymnast!
Do the parents of your students thank you for their children? Or, conversely, does it ever happen that they blame the coach because their child didn't win a particular competition?
Olga: I have never once heard parents - if something isn't going right for their children - say that the coaches are to blame. Perhaps they simply trust us. And besides, if the children are happy, go to practice with enthusiasm, and come home with eyes shining as they excitedly recount everything that happened in the gym - well, that alone is a source of great happiness for any parent!
Valentin: I have a telling example. There was a boy in my group who suffered from impaired motor coordination. He was, to all intents and purposes, a sickly child. Yet, a year later, that same boy became a leader on the team. His parents were incredibly grateful to us. For them, the most important thing was that their child had regained his health - the athletic results were of secondary importance.
Olga, your first coach, Boris Orlov, left the country very early on. How do you keep in touch with him now?
Olga:It's such a shame that he left so soon; I felt that under his guidance I could have achieved so much more. It was bitter and hurtful, but what could be done? However, we are on very good terms now. First he worked in Holland, then in Germany, and now he's back in Holland again. We talk on the phone constantly, wish each other happy birthday - in short, we genuinely enjoy keeping in touch.
You only recently stopped participating in exhibition performance, didn't you?
Valentin: Yes, we performed a great deal - we toured extensively with Nadia Comaneci's group. We had our own show, complete with costumes and lighting effects. It was a completely different kind of gymnastics - more of a gymnastics show, really. We received a particularly fantastic reception in America. Ever since the US women's gymnastic team won Olympic gold, the level of excitement surrounding the sport there has been absolutely incredible!
Are such performances well paid?
Olga:It's wonderful. A single appearance in a show like this could be worth a whole month of intense coaching work! And generally speaking, I am absolutely thrilled that gymnasts who are retiring from competition now have the opportunity to extend their careers - albeit in a slightly different capacity. For some, these performances will help them discover new facets of their talent; for the fans, it offers another chance to see their idols.
O. KUZNETSOVA